Who Are You Having Coffee with on International Coffee Day?

According to Wikipedia, September 29 will be International Coffee Day. The exact origin of this day is unknown. One reason for this day is to raise awareness about fair trade coffee.

This post, however, isn’t about the beverage coffee. I mention this day because we all need to stay connected with others in our network. In terms of practising law, some of the benefits of networking include strengthening our relationship with our connections, learning what issues clients may be concerned with, finding out how we can help them, understanding what they feel is of value, and gathering information about what’s trending. So what better way to do this than over coffee.

Social media is one way to connect and stay connected with others, but to strengthen the relationship and enhance information exchange we should also be having live discussions. Depending on the audience and connection, building and nurturing a relationship typically involves both online and offline activities.

You may recall in my first post, Marketing Yourself: How to Let Others Know You Exist, I mentioned having coffee with others as one way to let others know about you. It was over coffee that I told my friend, Jason Leung, that I was going to take a break from practising law to start a consulting company to help lawyers and other legal professionals learn how to leverage social media. [Update: I doubt I’ll be returning to the practice of law!]

Jason then immediately and enthusiastically told me about his transition from practising law at a boutique intellectual property law firm to starting up his own intellectual property law practice, LeungLaw. His new practice was less than one year old when we had our re-connecting coffee, but he had already had over 400 coffees to let others know about his transition.

So I thought I would ask him a few questions to help motivate lawyers to catch up over coffee, as some of us are better at accomplishing this than others.

Question: How often do you meet up to have coffee on a professional basis, and with whom?

Jason:

Even though my practice is getting pretty busy, I still make sure that I schedule one coffee meeting every day from Monday to Friday. If you look at my calendar, I usually have about 20 to 30 coffee meetings scheduled. Some people are surprised that they need to book me one month in advance just for a coffee! I have coffee with a broad range of people – lawyers, accountants, bank managers, law students, people looking for jobs – you never know who will be a good contact.

Question: That is a lot of coffee meetings. Have you had coffee with your social media followers whom you have not met before?

Jason:

Yes, but I generally don’t initiate this type of meeting. There have been a few people who I am connected to on LinkedIn or Twitter who ask me if they want to meet up. I do a quick background check to try to get a sense of whether this is a person who really wants to establish a mutually beneficial relationship or if it’s just someone who wants to sell me something. If I think it is the former, then I’ll try to schedule a coffee with them. Sometimes, I turn out to be right and sometimes I turn out to be wrong.

Question: What have you found beneficial from meeting up with others over coffee?

Jason:

Coffee meetings give me the chance to talk with people one-on-one. It’s only by chatting with people one-on-one that you learn about what they need or what they are looking for. This is information that is hard to get at a gala dinner or cocktail party when there are hundreds of other people around. By meeting one-on-one, I can figure out if there is a way that I can try to help that person in their career. When you do that, many people will look to return the favour and try to help you in your career.

Question: Do you view these coffee meetings as a career requirement or task, or as a fun meeting?

Jason:

All of the above. Since I have my own practice, I need to bring in my own business and coffee meetings are an integral part of my business development strategy. At the same time, I enjoy chatting with people and learning about their careers. And the fact that I love coffee is a huge bonus!

Question: International Coffee Day is a great reminder to meet up with a connection. It doesn’t seem like you need the reminder though. How are you ensuring that you are regularly meeting up over coffee the rest of the year?

Jason:

Almost every time I get someone’s business card at an event or speaking engagement, assuming they work downtown, I invite them for a coffee. And if I come across someone who I met for a coffee several months back and I am curious to know how they are doing, then I will invite them out again. By doing this, I usually have 20 to 30 coffee meetings in my calendar at all times.

Question: There are some lawyers like you who are very good with catching up over coffee. There are, however, some lawyers who have good intentions to have coffee with others, but do not get around to it. For example, they may feel they don’t have the time or are too new in their practice to do so, or they may simply not enjoy these types of meetings. Do you have any words of encouragement or guidance?

Jason:

It is certainly possible to build your network and your practice in other ways, but I think coffee meetings are one of the best. People are more likely to accept an invitation to coffee because it’s less of a commitment than lunch or dinner. There is no substitute for meeting with people one-on-one. Not every meeting will turn into a new file, but if you meet with people on a regular basis good things will eventually start happening.

Question: Do you have any favourite places in downtown Toronto for catching up over coffee?

Jason:

I have many favourites. I have probably been to every Starbucks, Timothy’s, Tim Hortons, Aroma and Second Cup in downtown Toronto, and will keep going to them. I also like going to places with more unique character such as Nespresso, Seven Grams, Caffe Artigiano and Mercatto. If I had to pick just one, then it would be Black Canary which is inside the Silver Snail Comic Shop – my guests usually like the good coffee, non-pretentious atmosphere and the big statue of Batman next to our table!

Before I end this post, I do want to acknowledge that some of us may feel hesitant in having coffee with someone we met through social media. Just as we would be cautious in meeting a potential new client from an offline encounter, we need to use the same common sense to determine whether it would be appropriate to meet a social media follower and where. This includes at least doing a quick background check, as Jason mentioned. Let someone know who you will be meeting with and where. If it’s appropriate, consider inviting a colleague to attend as well.

Have you scheduled a coffee for International Coffee Day with a client, past client, potential client, colleague, or friend yet? If not, take a look at your emails or LinkedIn connections to see who you would like to catch up with. Perhaps you’re interested in having coffee with someone from a connection’s network, in which case you better get started in receiving an introduction.

Don’t let being busy on September 29 be an excuse for not having coffee. This year, the International Coffee Organisation (in England) has officially designated October 1 as International Coffee Day. It really doesn’t matter which day you meet up with your connection. Simply enjoy the conversation and coffee!